How Can Organizations Reap the Benefits of a Diverse Workforce?
Assessing the Organization’s Diversity Paradigm
Too often, organizations focus on merely recruiting employees from different demographic groups, mistakenly hoping the benefits of diversity will magically follow. Whether or not an organization will fully benefit from diversity, however, depends on how its members answer the questions, “What do we do with this diversity? Why do we want a diversified workforce?” 1,2 Organizations must explicitly address these questions if they are to prevent diversity efforts from backfiring and if they are to reap the oft-touted benefits of better performance and productivity. Engaging in conversations about these questions is essential, then, even if such conversations initially seem time-consuming, abstract, or even ominous.
Ely and Thomas identify three different paradigms — each with different assumptions and outcomes — that can help members of organizations understand how they think about diversity (See chart):
- the Discrimination – Fairness Paradigm
- the Access – Legitimacy Paradigm
- the Learning – Integration Paradigm
The first two paradigms — the most common, to date — result in some positive outcomes but limit the benefits an organization can gain from diversity. Only the Learning-Integration Paradigm allows organizations to recognize the full potential of a diversified workforce.
WHAT COMPANIES CAN DO
|
ORGANIZATIONAL DIVERSITY PARADIGMS

Resources
- Ely, R. & Thomas, D. (2001). Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 229-273.
- Thomas, D. & Ely, R. (1996). Making differences matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity. Harvard Business Journal, 79-90.
- For practical tools and workshops: Cornell’s Diversity and Inclusion Practice Program http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/mgmtprog/dm/; MDB Group, Inc. http://www.mdbgroup.com/
Authors: Catherine Ashcraft